Final Decision
by samcarter2
Summary: This is a multi-chapter retelling of the episode Earth using my original characters from Always Love You and Sacrifice.  Everett/OC
1. Chapter 1

Final Decision

Author's Notes: I would like to thank everyone involved with the Stargate franchise for the many hours of entertainment over the years and would like to thank my friends and family for their encouragement. This story is broken up into chapters, but since it's a retelling of the episode Earth, some of the chapter breaks might be a little awkward. Please review and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: All characters and situations originating with SGU are not mine and will never be mine. I would also like to give credit to the people on who write the transcripts on Gateworld.

Over the past few weeks, Melissa Mitchell, Earth scientist aboard the Alteran ship Destiny had experienced fear many times, but this seemed to be the biggest one yet. She was being hauled to the Gate Room with a knife at her throat by Saunders and Williams, the two men who had almost raped her three weeks before. The person who had allowed this was Colonel Telford, an officer who had come from Earth to conduct a test which would determine the viability of harvesting enough power from the sun for dialing the stargate back to Earth as the Destiny was billions of light years away from Earth. Since the ship was so far away, the only form of communication was by using something called a communication stone which enabled the user to switch minds with someone at the other end.

At the moment, Telford inhabited the body of Melissa's fiancée Colonel Everett Young, and he had taken particular pleasure in using it to terrorize her over the past several hours. Only two things had kept her sane—feeling the kicking inside her five month pregnant body and feeling the empathic link that she shared with Everett, which surprisingly enough she could still feel even though his mind was so far away. When they reached the Gate Room, Telford pushed her up to the console where Dr. Nicholas Rush, lead scientist of the group, and Dr. Dale Volker were standing and harshly said, "Tell me if the math is right on this." While she was looking at it, she heard Telford say to Williams and Saunders, "Once we get through to Earth, Young is never going to find her, and when her kid is born, we'll mail it back to him in cut-up pieces." The other two laughed, and at that point, Melissa knew her life and her baby's life were worth nothing if this plan worked.

She looked back at the screen and said, "Sure, everything looks great," although she had instantly spotted several calculation errors. Telford started to drag her back to stand with him and the others when Rush, who had seen the knife and had heard what had been said, remarked, "Colonel Telford, it would be handy to have someone who understands the math for this ready to do additional calculations if necessary. I could use Dr. Mitchell's help."

"That's fine," said Telford who pushed Melissa back towards the console. Dr. Rush helped her regain her footing and gave her a slight nod of reassurance. As they waited for the ship to start repowering, Melissa's mind went back in time to when this whole mess had started.

Twenty-Four Hours Earlier

Melissa and Everett were sitting in the Mess with several members of the crew who had become advisors and good friends since they had come to the Destiny. They were discussing the plan that Homeworld Command had come up with to bring the crew of the Destiny home. Eli Wallace explained, "The ship doesn't have enough power to dial back to Earth and—as we've seen recently—when the ship runs out of juice, it finds a star and refills its tanks. Now, theoretically, at that time, the full power of the star should be available to us."

"You're talking about star power," said Sergeant Greer.

"Yeah, it's brilliant…If we can somehow use the ship as a conduit and channel the star's energy into the gate as we dial."

Lieutenant Scott said, "That would do it."

Melissa said, "The problem with this is the 'whole ship as a conduit' part."

"Well, does anyone know when the ship will run out of power again?" asked Lieutenant Johansen, who was also known as TJ.

"It's tough to tell," replied Eli. "Based on current usage, it'll probably be several months."

At a nearby table, Sergeant Riley and Adam Brody had been listening to the conversation. Brody said, "Not if we can drain the power faster."

"Right!" said Eli, "That's the part of the plan that sounded a little vague."

"It's possible," said Riley.

Scott asked, "So you guys are saying you're all for this?"

"Let's see what Rush says," said Brody.

The colonel stood up and said, "I'm going there now to talk to him." Melissa left with him, and they headed for the Control Room where Camille Wray was also waiting. Young and Wray explained the plan to Rush who was not real enthusiastic. "Well, given how little we know about the ship…"

"Can't we at least try it, and abort if something goes wrong?" asked Wray.

"Well, unfortunately, the "something goes wrong" part would most likely mean the ship exploding."

Young said, "The people who came up with the idea don't seem to think so, but I don't think they know for sure either."

"You're right, Colonel, science is not as definitive as some people would like it to be. You're just gonna have to choose who you want to believe."

"Alright, I'm supposed to go back tomorrow and let them know our decision. See you in the morning." Everett and Melissa headed out of the Control Room and walked back towards their quarters. When they arrived, he turned to her and asked, "Sweetheart, how do you feel about this?"

"Honestly, Ev, I'm not sure if the science behind this has been thoroughly researched. From what you've told me, I really think there's an underlying agenda that goes beyond getting the crew back to Earth. I also know that we still need to pretend to find a way back to Earth as we don't want anyone to know about the Alteran ship that's supposed to be meeting us or about our background. And maybe this last part is just pregnancy hormones, but I have a feeling that something really bad is about to happen." She choked out a small sob as she turned towards the bed.

"Oh, baby, come here." Ev took her in his arms, and they gave each other a long hug. "Listen, if you feel like that, I'll tell them we need to research it some more. That'll make Rush happy."

"Thank you, Ev."

"You're welcome. Oh, I talked with Mac earlier. He's going to look after you while I'm gone tomorrow. Hopefully, I won't be gone long."

"I appreciate that." Missy thought for a second about asking this next question, but then decided Ev would want her to have peace of mind. "Hey, I have one other favor to ask of you."

"What's that, Babe? If I can do it, I will."

"You're going to think I'm silly, but sometimes I get nervous that I'm not going to be sure it's you when you come back from using the stones so I was wondering if we could have some kind of signal."

Ev lifted her chin up to face him and said, "Missy, you are not being silly. What did you have in mind?"

"Something real simple—just between us." She formed her hand into the deaf symbol for 'I love you.' "Have you even seen this? It's the deaf symbol for 'I love you'."

"Yes, I have. It's perfect." He leaned over and kissed her. "We should get ready for bed. Tomorrow will be here before we know it." The two of them undressed down to their underclothing and got in the bed where Ev put a protective arm around Melissa. "Good night, sweetheart. I love you."

"I love you too."

When they woke up the next morning, Everett, still sensing Melissa's nervousness, gently made love to her. After they finished, he cuddled her in his arms and told her, "Listen, Missy, I'm not going to be gone any longer than an hour. Then Chloe and Eli are going to visit their families, and I'm coming back to mine, ok?" He touched her belly and said, "Angel, I have an assignment for you. Take care of Mama until I come back. Can you do that?" They both felt the answering kicks in response. "I guess she accepted the assignment. Do you feel better, Missy?"

Smiling, she said, "Yes, I do, Ev. You always know the right thing to say to me." She looked at her watch and said, "I guess we should get ready." They both put their uniforms back on, and Ev helped her lace up her boots.

As he was finishing, the door chime rang. It was Mac who said, "Morning, Sir. Morning, Melissa."

They both greeted him warmly. When Melissa walked back to the bathroom to finish brushing her hair, Young took Mac aside and said, "I really appreciate you doing this."

"Naah, not a problem. Remember, she's like my sister. Anything in particular you want me to do?"

"Yes, make sure she eats, and if Telford is the one who comes, keep her away from him. Also, she is very nervous about this for some reason. If you can figure out a way to distract her, then that would be great too."

"Consider it done, Sir."

"Thanks, Lieutenant." Ev called out to Missy, "Time to go, Babe."

"Alright, I'm coming." She walked out of the bathroom, and the three of them headed towards the communication room. When they got there, they saw Chloe and Eli who were waiting for them. After they had greeted each other, Young asked, "Can you guys give us some privacy for a minute?" He took Melissa a little further down the hall. "I think I'll say good-bye out here." He took her in his arms, kissed her, and said, "Remember everything I told you, Missy, and especially this…" He formed his hand into the deaf symbol for 'I love you.'

Forming her hand into the same symbol, Missy said, "Be careful, sweetheart. See you in a little while." They walked back to the group, and after Missy said good-bye to Chloe and Eli, she and Mac headed for the Mess to get breakfast.

Meanwhile, Colonel Young, Eli, and Chloe had walked into the communication room where Sergeant Riley was waiting. As Eli looked nervously at the table, Chloe said, "Nothing to worry about. It doesn't hurt at all."

"Do I look worried?" asked Eli.

"A little."

Riley piped up, "My family thinks I'm on sabbatical in Africa."

Eli turned towards him and asked, "So, when it's time to come back, what do I do? Click my heels three times?"

"There's no way for you to disconnect the transmission yourself," replied Riley. "The base needs to be manually shut down. There's a device on the other side as well, and turning either off will sever the connection."

"That's pretty cool."

"Easiest way to swap consciousness with someone across the universe I've ever seen."

Young asked, "Are we ready to do this?" When the others nodded, the three of them picked up their stones and put them onto the base. The footage from the kino that Eli had left running still showed their bodies as being there, but the bodies had now been taken over by Telford and the two scientists he had brought with him. (Drs. Williams and McCormack) On Earth, Young, Eli, and Chloe had taken over Telford, Williams, and McCormack's bodies. Eli was getting used to the sensations of being in a new body and said, "Wow, check me out!" as he saw his new image on a screen across the room. When he turned away from the screen, he shook his head and said, "This is really weird. The people we're in can't hear us, can they?"

Chloe replied, "No, they can't."

"I wonder what they're doing with our bodies," said Eli. He chuckled nervously, but Young, remembering what had happened the last time Telford had been to the ship, was hoping that Mac was keeping Melissa far away from him.

A young lieutenant cleared his throat, "Colonel Young, General O'Neill would like to see you in his office. Mr. Wallace, Miss Armstrong, if you would please stay here until we come back." The three nodded affirmatively in response to him, and the two officers headed out of the room.

Meanwhile on the Destiny, Colonel Telford has asked Lieutenant Scott to bring Dr. Rush to see him. Once the two had come back, Telford said, "I'll just get right to it. I've been ordered to enact the rescue plan put forward by the IOA."

"Rescue plan?" asked Rush.

"I don't understand," said Scott.

Telford continued, "I brought Doctors McCormack and Williams with me." He turned to Rush and said, "I believe you know them."

"Yes."

"I've already set them to work."

Scott asked, "What about Colonel Young?"

Telford replied, "Effective immediately, I'm assuming command of the Destiny."


	2. Chapter 2

Final Decision

Author's Notes: refer to first chapter

Disclaimer: refer to first chapter

While this conversation was going on, a similar one was going on in General Jack O'Neill's office at Homeworld Command on Earth. Thinking that he would never discount Missy's bad feelings again, Young asked in an incredulous voice, "You replaced me?"

"For now," said O'Neill.

"Without waiting to hear my answer?"

"You were going to say…"

"Give us more time."

"Then you were going to be disobeying a direct order."

"This is wrong and you know it, Sir. I spent most of my career looking up to you because you always did the right thing even if it meant disregarding the chain of command."

O'Neill sat back down at his deck. "Look, Colonel, all they're doing is some preliminary testing; nothing too serious. You can go see your family while you're here."

Young gave him a penetrating stare and said in a very serious tone, "You do mean Chloe and Eli can see their families, right? Because I know you haven't forgotten that my family is aboard that ship and that Melissa and our daughter's lives are two of the lives being risked with this plan."

"I know, Everett. I'm sorry. I don't like this anymore than you do. You can stay on the premises if you want."

"Thank you, Sir." Young then left O'Neill's office with the lieutenant and went back to the communications room. As soon as the lieutenant had left them, Young explained the situation to Chloe and Eli. After he finished, he said, "This is the last time that I won't listen to a bad feeling of Missy's. She has got to be frantic."

Chloe and Eli gave him sympathetic glances as Eli asked, "Can they really do this to us?"

"Well, for now they have, much as I don't like it," replied Young. "Look, I think it comes down to the fact that they don't trust Rush—and the truth is, I can't blame them."

"What are we supposed to do?" asked Chloe.

"They've given you permission to see your families as long as you guys follow the rules."

Noticing that the worried look was still on the colonel's face, Chloe asked, "Are you going to be okay?" When he didn't answer, she continued, "You know, you guys were telling us something last week about a link thing between you. Maybe you should try it. Then you would know for sure if she was okay."

A light dawned on Young's face as if the thought had just occurred to him. "Thank you, Chloe. I will."

"Look, I hate to go there," interrupted Eli, "but what happens if they screw up and the ship explodes?"

Young answered, "Most likely, we will die here too."

"Nice, okay, we'll see you later then." Eli and Chloe left with their handlers.

The colonel's handler then walked in and said, "Sir, the general suggested you might want to wait in one of the offices."

"Alright, lead on then." They went to an office that wasn't being used. As Young sat down on the sofa, the lieutenant asked, "Can I get anything for you, Sir?"

At first, he was going to tell him not to worry about it. Then he realized there was something he wanted. "Lieutenant, are you familiar with the country music group Rascal Flatts?

"Yes, I am, Sir. My wife and I love their music."

"Well, if you could get me their Still Feels Good CD and a CD player, I would be very grateful."

"You got it. I'll be back in a little while." The lieutenant hurried out, and Everett was alone for the first time since arriving at Homeworld Command. He wasn't sure if the empathic link he had with Missy would work from this far away, but he was worried enough, that he wanted to try. Concentrating very hard, he thought about her, how much he loved her, and sent reassuring thoughts of his own well-being. About five minutes later, he felt images from her mind coming back at him reflecting her love for him, her own well-being, and her surprise that the link worked from so far away. He sent back his own surprise, told her to take care of herself, and let her know he would be back as soon as he could. At that moment, there was a knock on the door. It was the lieutenant who had come back with the CD and CD player he had asked for. "Here you go, Sir. Can I get you anything else?"

"No, this will be fine. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll be right outside if you need anything." He stepped outside the door as Everett was plugging in the CD player and cueing it up to the song he wanted. After he had found the song 'Every Day', he started it playing, lay down on the sofa, closed his eyes, and thought of Missy.

Back on the Destiny, a short time earlier, Scott and Greer had joined Mac and Melissa in the Mess as they were eating. The discussion revolved around what Telford was planning. Melissa said, "Leave it to Homeworld Command to try something stupid. I'm gonna get one proverbial 'I told you so' when the colonel gets back."

Greer said, "Yeah, it was nice that they made a decision without our input. I bet the colonel had a fit."

Scott replied, "Probably so." He looked over at Melissa who was gazing off into space and asked, "You okay, Dr. Mitchell?"

Snapping back to reality, Missy smiled and replied, "Yes, I am, Lieutenant. Thanks. Oh, and if anyone's interested, the colonel's fine."

Mac asked, "And you know that, how?"

"It's that link thing they have," said Greer in a low voice. "I didn't know that could work from so far away."

"I didn't either, guys," said Melissa, "but I'll take it at this point."

Mac remarked, "That is too cool." The other three nodded in agreement and continued to eat their rations. A few minutes later Telford walked in with two marines and headed over to their table. Scott raised his eyes warningly to Greer, who doesn't even need to turn around to realize who has come in and what he wants. Greer said, "Colonel Telford, I presume."

"Sergeant." Greer stood up and turned to face him. Telford instructed the escorts, "Confine him to quarters. He can use the facilities, but that's it." Greer nodded at the other three as he left with the two marines. Telford then turned back to the table where Scott, Mac, and Melissa were looking at him with carefully neutral expressions and said, "Dr. Mitchell, I think you know Dr. McCormack. She was wondering if you could look and see if she had translated something correctly."

"Sure," said Melissa. She got up from the table, and Mac got up as well.

Telford said, "Lieutenant, I didn't ask for you."

Nodding in Melissa's direction, Mac said, "But you did ask for her, and I'm under orders to stay with her so, actually, you did ask for me, Sir."

A small expression of contempt came over Telford's face before he was able to carefully mask it. He said, "This is highly irregular."

"Sorry, I have my orders."

Telford said, "Ok, she's in the Control Room," and then stomped out of the Mess.

Melissa, Scott, and Mac gazed at Telford's rapidly disappearing back as Scott said, "Oooh boy, I think you just got a big fat target painted on your back, Mac. Be careful."

Missy shook her head, "He's up to something, and I don't think he really wanted me for a translation."

"I've got three inches on him, Melissa" said Mac. "Hopefully, he won't try."

"Well, let's go check." They headed out of the Mess and down to the Control Room. When they got there, the only person in the room was Dr. McCormack. Melissa said, "Hello Dr. McCormack, I understand you wanted me to check a translation."

"Oh, hi, Melissa," said McCormack. "How are you?" She walked over to the two of them and gave her a hug. "It's right over on this console."

Melissa looked at the console and then looked at the notebook where she had written the translation. "This looks fine. No problems at all." She glanced back at their guest who was now carefully scrutinizing her from head to toe. "You didn't really want me to check any translation, Lynn, did you? Why did you want me to come here?"

In a snarky tone, McCormack said, "I guess you caught me, Melissa. You were always pretty smart. No, I just wanted to see if the rumors flying around Homeworld Command were true."

"And what rumors would those be, Lynn?" asked Melissa who knew exactly what she meant.

"You know, the ones about the dishy Everett Young getting you pregnant. And since I see that you are pregnant, I guess they are true."

Melissa started laughing so hard she almost choked, and she saw where Mac was laughing too. McCormack whined, "What's so funny?"

"Well, I've never heard of him put in quite those terms before. In all seriousness, though, Lynn, my personal life is none of your damn business, and neither is it Homeworld Command's."

McCormack took the notebook back from her. She said, "I've heard that things will be taken care of if we are able to get the ship's crew back to Earth. I've got a friendly warning for you too. All I've been involved with is the fun gossip, but Telford is really pissed off that Young is here, and he isn't. You might want to watch your back." She took a call on her radio. "There's going to be an all-crew meeting in the Gate Room in ten minutes."

As Mac and Melissa turned to leave the Control Room, Melissa said in a snarky tone, "Always a pleasure, Lynn." When they had gotten far enough away from the Control Room, they both burst out laughing. Mac said, "That is too funny. We have got to tell the Colonel that one."

"Yep, I guess 'dishy' must be the new hot male term." She sobered as she remembered the rest of McCormack's statement. "I guess I have a target on my back now too."

"Yeah, I need to talk to Scott about that when this meeting is over." They arrived at the Gate Room and watched as the other members of the crew walked in. After everyone arrived, Colonel Telford and the scientists explained the plan to the rest of the crew. Riley asked, "And what if the power flow can't be controlled?"

Dr. Williams replied, "Well, if there are any dangerous fluctuations, we just shut it down and allow the ship to continue powering up."

"Early tests show it should work," said Brody.

Telford stated, "We're not going to be putting you in any more danger than you are already in just being here."

McCormack said, "From what I gather, supplies are desperately short."

"And, given the condition of the ship, it could experience a fatal breakdown at any time," said Dr. Williams.

Camille Wray added, "No one is trying to alarm you unduly, but we can't continue to scrape by, barely surviving."

"Obviously, we can't say for sure that this is going to get you home, but the best minds that we have are working on this, and I'm sure you'll agree, it's well worth pursuing," said Telford. The meeting finished up, and the crew left talking among themselves about what had been discussed. Mac and Melissa caught up with TJ and Scott and told them what had happened with Dr. McCormack. After they all got a good laugh out of the 'dishy' comment, Mac said, "I'm concerned about Melissa's safety."

Scott said, "I am too, but we can't do anything until he actually tries something, and I'm not sure we could do anything then—you know with him being a superior officer and all."

"We could disconnect the stones," said TJ.

"He's put them under 24 hour guard," said Scott. Thinking for a minute, he continued, "Ok, here's what we're gonna do. Mac, keep her around people. He won't dare try anything where he's gonna have witnesses cause if we do get back to Earth, they can all testify against him."

"Alright, I guess we're headed for the Mess then. Check-in every hour?" The other two agreed, and they all headed in different directions.

In another part of the ship, Dr. Brody and Sergeant Riley were using the spacesuits to repair some broken pipes. Brody finished with his area and waited for Riley to finish welding. As they were doing this, Dr. Rush was sitting in the Control Room listening to their conversation. When Telford, Williams, and McCormack walked in, Telford said to Rush, "You're stalling."

Rush replied, "I'm doing things the way they need to be done."

Williams said, "Now, we've isolated power to forty percent of the operational weapons system, and it should be good enough to get us a read on our power reduction capacity."

Rush shook his head as Telford bent closer to him and said, "The next time we drop out of FTL."

Trying to explain what he meant, Rush said, "No, look, this ship is old and damaged. The computers aren't registering half the things they're supposed to. I want manual confirmation before activating any system that comprehensive."

Telford stated, "Over eighty percent of this ship is inaccessible without spacesuits right now. With only two suits, doing it your way could take months."

"If that's what it takes," said Rush firmly.

Their discussion was interrupted by a call on the radio. It was Riley who said, "Dr. Rush, we're ready here."


	3. Chapter 3

Final Decision

Author's Notes: refer to first chapter

Disclaimer: refer to first chapter

"Okay, sending power through."

Riley and Brody peered through the small window in the bulkhead. A few seconds later steam began to vent from the pipe that Riley had been welding, and an alarm sounded in the Control Room. Rush asked, "Riley?"

"Looks like a coolant leak."

Brody said, "I thought you got it."

"Yeah, so did I."

In the Control Room, the alarm kept sounding as Rush typed busily on the console. "There's a problem. Power's backing up in the link."

Telford ordered, "Shut it down."

"I'm trying. It's not working."

Dr. Williams said, "The problem is contained. It's restricted to that corridor."

"That's not the point," said Rush.

Understanding the point that Rush was trying to make, Telford asked, "How big of an explosion are we talking about?"

"We're in FTL," replied Rush. "If it punctures the hull, disrupts the shield at all even for a microsecond, then the entire ship could be in jeopardy." A minute later they heard the sound of the gas igniting and Brody's scream, "RILEY!"

Shortly after that, Brody was sitting on the floor outside of the Infirmary and Rush was standing nearby. TJ was inside tending to Riley's unconscious body. She had just finished bandaging his head and putting him on an IV drip when she came out to report to the men. Brody stood up and looked at her anxiously. She said, "It's gonna be touch and go."

A little while later Dr. Rush was in the Mess eating his meal when Telford sat down opposite him and said, "We're proceeding with the test the next time we drop out of FTL."

"Colonel, the man nearly died," said Rush.

"You're the one who put him in jeopardy."

Rush remarked, "I was trying to make sure you didn't kill us all."

Telford stated, "I'm not going to."

"Ok, I accept responsibility for what happened, but you forced the situation and activating the weapons system the way you're proposing is completely reckless."

"Come on, Rush. These people are in danger just being here as evidenced by what just happened. The ship is falling apart. They're the wrong people for this. We need to get them home."

"Yeah, well, there's a right way of doing that."

Telford said, "We are doing it the right way."

"That's a matter of opinion."

"Look, I know that we've had our differences in the past…"

"Yeah, you wanted me off the expedition team, I remember," replied Rush.

"It was my duty to express concern for how everyone else felt about you."

"So, are you suggesting that my judgment is now somehow clouded? Or is it that I'm just plain lying?"

"Admit it, Rush. After everything that's happened, you're afraid they're not going to let you come back." They locked gazes for a long moment after which Rush stood up and left the room. Quite pleased with how things were going, Telford turned his thoughts to what he could do about Young who he felt to be a nemesis in his side. Turning into a section of crew quarters he hadn't been to yet, he saw a guard outside one of the doors. "Sergeant, who are you guarding in here?" When the sergeant looked confused, he said, "It's Colonel Telford."

"Yes, Sir. I'm guarding two marines that assaulted Dr. Mitchell a few weeks ago. There was a trial and everything. The sentence was heavy labor with an escort at all times and a guard on the door when they're in their quarters."

"Were there witnesses?"

"Yes, there were four witnesses. Colonel Young said an example needed to be made so no one else would get the same idea."

"I'll bet he did." Looking at the door, Telford thought to himself, 'This will be perfect.' "Sergeant, why don't you take a break for an hour? I want to speak with the prisoners."

"I'm not really supposed to leave, Sir."

"It's ok. I've got it." The sergeant walked down the hall, and Telford opened the door and went in. When he did, he saw a tall, muscular brown-haired man sitting on the bed and a slightly shorter blond man sitting on the chair. The brown-haired man whose name was Saunders said, "We don't have anything to say to you, Young."

"Who said I was Young? It's Colonel Telford. Communication stones, remember?"

So, what do you want, Telford?" asked the blond man whose name was Williams.

Giving them appraising looks, Telford replied, "I think the three of us have something in common—namely we don't like Colonel Young. How would you like to have some fun?"

"We already tried that," said Saunders, "and we ended up in here."

Telford shook his head exasperatedly hoping he hadn't stumbled upon two idiots. "I have something a bit more permanent in mind. Young isn't here right now, and if you can get rid of the guy that's guarding Dr. Mitchell, you can grab her and bring her back here. Now, the one thing you have to do for right now though, no marks where they can be seen. If we can get the gate working, I want to be able to take her through the gate without a lot of notice."

"What about the guard?"

"Guard will be gone long enough if you think you can do it."

Saunders and Williams glanced at each other trying to decide if Telford was for real. "Of course we can do it. How long do we have?

"You have an hour. Don't let anyone see you. Try around the Mess or the Observation Deck or either of their quarters. She's with Lieutenant McDonald."

"Okay." The two men hastily put on their boots and headed down the corridor. "Let's try crew quarters first." Keeping out of sight, they went to the next section and stood in a shadowy corner while they were watching the corridor. About ten minutes later, they hit pay dirt when they saw Melissa and Mac coming down the hallway. Mac said, "I need to get a fresh shirt, Melissa. Just take a second."

"That's fine, Mac." They walked into his quarters, and Melissa waited while he changed. When they started to walk back out, Mac stumbled and fell onto the floor unconscious. "Mac, Mac, what's wrong?" Pulling out her radio, she toggled it and said, "TJ, it's Melissa. Medical emergency, Mac's quarters."

Someone grabbed the radio out of her hand and said, "No, no, we can't have that," It was Saunders who dropped the radio on the floor and kicked it out of reach.

"You weren't supposed to let her have time to do that," said Williams.

"Who the hell let you two pieces of garbage out?" asked Melissa. "And what did you do to him?"

Saunders held up a brick. "These are always helpful when you want to knock somebody out. Now, Telford said not to put any marks on you, but he wants you something bad…."

Missy knew she was only going to get one opportunity for this, and she ran for the door opening. If it had just been one of them, she would have made it, but Williams grabbed both of her arms and twisted them behind her. "Nope, you're coming with us." Unfortunately, there was no one coming down the corridor at the moment so they were able to muscle her back to the other quarters without anyone else seeing. When they walked back, Telford was waiting. He looked at his watch, and said, "Gentlemen, congratulations, that only took twenty minutes."

Angrily gazing at him, Melissa spat out "What the hell do you want, Telford?"

Giving her a sinister smile, he said, "Why, I want you, my dear?" He turned to the other two. "This is going to be fun. I thought of one other thing. Someone else needs to be taught a lesson about what they can and can't do to me. I'm going to get him. Do not touch her while I'm gone."

Saunders said, "Sure, you're the boss." Telford left the room to go down the hall.

Meanwhile, TJ and Scott had reached Mac's quarters and found him unconscious on the floor. TJ lifted his head up carefully and showed it to Scott. "He was knocked out." She looked around the room. "Where's Melissa? I know she wouldn't have left him if she had had a choice."

"I don't know, TJ. Dammit, we need to find some people we can trust who aren't intimidated by Telford. He must be crazy if he thinks he can make her disappear."

Placing a bandage on Mac's head, TJ said, "Yeah, if we make it back to Earth, General O'Neill will have a fit. You know she knows him, right?"

"Yes. Ok, we need to get Mac to the infirmary. Did you have any other people in mind to help us?"

"How about Peterson, Carter, and Reynolds?"

"That's works. Let's go." He helped her pick up Mac, and they walked towards the infirmary. They met up with Lieutenant James on the way there and asked for her help as well.

At the same time this was happening, Telford was collecting Greer from the room he had him confined in and taking him to where Melissa was. When they got there, the first guard had returned, and Telford told him to go—that the guard who had been watching Greer would stay there. After he left, Telford opened the door, and Greer saw Saunders, Williams, and Melissa as he stepped in. He turned to Telford and asked, "What kind of game are you playing, Telford?"

"Funny, you should ask that, Greer," replied Telford. "This would be the game where you can't prevent anything I choose to have done to her." He pointed to Melissa who bit her lower lip as she gazed at him defiantly. "Ok, what to start with first. Oh, I know, no one will see the bruises on her back. We can start by punching her there." For the next few minutes, the three of them each placed a few well-aimed punches to her upper back which left her cringing with pain, but bound and determined to keep from showing it as much as she could. Then Telford's radio squawked. It was Dr. Williams who said, "Sir, we're about ready to conduct the first test. I thought you'd want to be here."

"Yes, of course, I'll be right there." Turning to his two accomplices in crime, he said, "Don't touch them while I'm gone, ok?"

"Sure, boss." Telford headed out of the room while Greer helped Melissa sit down carefully on the bed. As the other two were talking in lurid detail about what they wanted to do next, Greer whispered to Missy, "Are you ok?"

She shrugged her shoulders and winced in pain, "It hurts, but I'm sure not going to show them."

"Good for you." He pointed to his forehead and said, "Maybe you should try it. If the colonel knows you're hurt, then he might be able to get back here faster."

"You're right. Listen, I gotta close my eyes for this. Warn me if Telford comes back in here."

"You got it." Melissa closed her eyes and thought for a moment about what she wanted to send. She knew it had to be very basic. Then she made a decision and opened the link. Focusing as much as she could through her pain, she sent, 'Please come home, Ev. I'm hurt.' A few minutes later she could feel Ev's worry and concern reflected back at her, and she could also feel one thought reflected over and over. 'I love you, baby. I'm coming. I love you, baby. I'm coming.' She let the sensations of love and caring wash over her because she knew she would need them until this was over.

Meanwhile, Telford had walked into the Control Room and was talking with Williams and McCormack. Scott, who had the others doing a quiet search for Melissa, came in and asked, "Excuse me, Colonel? Can I have a word?"

Telford told the scientists to excuse him for a moment and walked away with Scott. "It's about Sergeant Greer." As he spoke, a brief shimmer enveloped everyone as Destiny came out of FTL. Telford stumbled, but it was Colonel Young who grabbed hold of a console to steady himself. He stared around the room in confusion. Scott repeated himself, "Colonel Telford?"

Young said, "It's Young. What just happened?"

"We just dropped out of FTL, Sir. Listen, Dr. Mitchell is missing. I've had people looking, but we can't find her."

"Yeah, she just communicated with me through our link. Scott, she's hurt."

"Shit, do you know where she is?"

"No, listen, Scott, we don't have a lot of time. You've gotta shut down…." At that moment, everyone switched again and once more Telford, Williams, and McCormack were in the others' bodies.

Scott, who was unaware that everything had changed again, was confused as Young fell silent. "Colonel Young? Colonel Young!"

The expression on Young's face changed again, and Scott knew Telford had come back. "What just happened?"

Scott replied, "We just dropped out of FTL."

Dr. Williams added, "Looks like it might have temporarily disrupted the communication device."

"We have to fix that," said Telford.

Scott said, "Sir, I think Colonel Young wanted me to shut down the stones."


	4. Chapter 4

Final Decision

Author's Notes: refer to first chapter

Disclaimer: refer to first chapter

"This is no longer his command. Is that clear? The device stays on."

"Yes, Sir," said Scott who quietly left and pulled out his radio. He toggled it and said, "Any news yet, TJ. They've started discharging the weapons here?"

TJ's voice came over the radio, "No Matt, and we had four more Marines volunteer to help search. They're going in teams of two, but that area's a big area to search. And Mac's regained consciousness. He's very upset with himself."

"Ok, keep in touch. I'm going to check on Greer."

"You got it."

Back in the Control Room, Telford was watching as the weapons continued to discharge. He told McCormack and Dr. Williams, "I need to go get something. We should be ready to do this shortly. Let me know if you have any problems."

"Will do," said McCormack.

Telford headed down the corridor towards the room where he had Melissa, Greer, Saunders, and Williams. When he got there, he entered and said to Melissa and Greer, "We're almost ready to dial the gate, and then your living nightmare will begin."

Melissa said, "As far as I'm concerned, Telford, you can go to hell. Greer nodded his head briskly in agreement with her.

"Ok, the two of you need to be taught how to speak to me. Williams, Saunders, you can do the honors." Saunders slapped Melissa across the face while Williams did the same to Greer. As they were both recovering from the stinging blows, Telford said, "Now, let me continue, Greer, I am sending you to the Gate Room with the escort that's standing outside. You are not to say anything about Dr. Mitchell, because if you do…" He pulled a knife out of his pocket. "I will stick this in her throat. Do you understand?"

Greer nodded his head, and Telford opened the door enough so that Greer could go out. He told the escort, "Take him to the Gate Room. We're about to try dialing the gate." The two of them left to head for the Gate Room. Then Telford shut the door once more, and tossed Saunders his knife. He said to Melissa, "Now, we are going to the Gate Room. You are not to talk to anyone because if you do, I don't have any qualms about killing you. Do you understand?" Melissa nodded her head, and she and her captors started for the Gate Room.

On the way, she tuned everything out except what she was feeling inside. Amazingly, she still felt cocooned in Ev's love through their link, and it was giving her courage she didn't know she had. She could also hear the words, 'You're going to be ok, Mama. Daddy's coming," and she knew their daughter had found some way to give her courage as well. She thought back, 'Thank you, Angel.'

When they arrived at the Gate Room, Telford pushed her up to the console where Dr. Rush and Dr. Volker were standing and harshly said, "Tell me if the math is right on this." Grimacing in pain as she was looking at it, she heard Telford say to Saunders and Williams, "Once we get through to Earth, Young will never find her, and when her kid is born, we'll mail it to him in cut-up pieces." The other two laughed, and Melissa knew her life and her baby's life were worth nothing if this plan worked.

She looked back at the screen and said, "Sure, everything looks great," although she had instantly spotted several calculation errors. Telford started to drag her back to stand with him and the others when Rush, who had seen the knife and had heard what had been said, remarked, "Colonel Telford, it would be handy to have someone who understands the math for this ready to do additional calculations if necessary. I could use Dr. Mitchell's help."

"That's fine," said Telford who pushed Melissa back towards the console. Dr. Rush helped her regain her footing and gave her a slight nod of reassurance. Telford moved to stand at the other console with Drs. Williams, McCormack, and Brody while Saunders and Williams stayed about three feet behind the first console. Rush moved next to Melissa like he was about to consult with her on something, and whispered in her ear. "Are you ok?"

She shook her head and whispered back, "No, back hurts."

Rush put his hand on her back, and she winced in pain. "Dear God, lass, what did they do to you?" Shaking her head again, she motioned towards where the two men were standing, and he nodded his head. Then he turned to Volker and said quietly in his ear, "Watch those two buffoons behind us. If they are distracted for even a moment, take her…" he motioned to Melissa, "and hide her." Volker acknowledged his request with a slight nod and a grim expression on his face. Rush then turned back to the gate as Destiny began its second fire walk and plunged toward the star. The power cells lowered down from the underside of the ship and began to charge. At the other console, Dr. Williams pushed a few buttons and said, "Diverting power to the stargate. Ready to attempt dialing."

"Do it," commanded Telford. He turned towards the stargate as Williams activated the controls. The gate lit up and began to spin. Everyone watched it as it rotated; then stopped and its first chevron locked. The gate continued to spin; then stopped as its second chevron locked. It continued to spin as Destiny sunk deeper into the star and more energy sunk surged into the power cells. Then another chevron locked, but after that, the room started shaking and electricity sparked around the gate.

Scott called out a warning, "Step back! Everyone back up!" The crew backed nervously away from the gate as Telford looked over at Williams' console. Brody was also looking at it and said, "You're gonna overload the capacitors."

"Bringing power flow down," said Williams. Even with the power flow diminishing, the gate still sparked and continued to spin as members of the crew cried out in alarm.

Brody said, "Limitations are not holding."

"Because this system wasn't meant to handle this much power," said Rush. He looked down at his console again. "The shield is failing."

Dr. Williams remarked, "Colonel, we need to abort."

Telford looked around at the gate in frustration knowing that his plans were falling apart and then angrily gestured to Williams. "Shut it down!"

Williams typed on his console looking up in concern when the gate continued to spin. "It's not working."

"I thought you said you could stop it!"

"I know! It won't shut down!"

Telford turned and glared at Rush who turned his head away as if unconcerned about the whole imminent death thing. He closed his eyes in frustration for a moment, then turned and looked at Drs. Williams and McCormack before turning to leave the Gate Room. As they were leaving, Saunders and Williams ran up to Telford and said, "What about us? Young will kill us when he finds out what we did."

Telford pushed them aside and replied, "I don't care. Leave me alone."

Noticing that their attention had been diverted from Melissa, Volker held out his hand to her and said, "Come on, Dr. Mitchell. Let's get you somewhere safe." The two of them melted into the back of the crowd as the drama continued at the front. As they made their way through the crowd, Melissa saw TJ standing near the opposite door. She told Volker, "Go that way." When they got closer, she could see Greer and Mac standing with her, and it was a very welcome sight. The only thing that would have been better would be to have Ev back safe and sound, but she had a feeling that would be happening momentarily. Finally getting through the last part of the crowd, Melissa and Volker reached them. She tapped TJ on the shoulder and said, "Hey guys, did you miss me?"

With a jolt, the three of them turned around, and TJ said, "Melissa, thank God, you're safe."

Mac, who had a bandage on the back of his head and still looked a little unsteady, almost started crying, "I am so glad you're ok, Melissa." He reached out to hug her and noticed as she visibly winced.

Greer said, "You don't want to touch her back," as he tousled her hair.

Mac exclaimed, "What the hell happened!" as TJ moved to take a look at her injuries.

"Telford thought it would be funny to use her as a punching bag, and he got Saunders and Williams to help. If we had gotten through to Earth, he was going to make sure she disappeared so the colonel wouldn't have been able to find her." He turned to Melissa. "Did I miss anything?"

"No, that would be about it." At that moment, the stargate went dark, slowed down, and stopped. The electricity stopped sparking, and all went quiet. A minute or so later, the lights came back on. Melissa sagged against Mac in relief. "It's over. Thank God. He's home." Knowing exactly who she meant, the three of them surrounded her with Volker following close behind as they made their way to the center of the room.

Rush said, "If I can have everyone's attention please." When everyone was quiet, he continued, "I'm sorry to have to tell you that, uh, we will not be going home. Not yet, anyway. But you can all relax and return to your quarters. The ship will not be exploding at least not today."

Scott asked, "Normal power levels will be restored soon, right?"

Answering his question, Rush said, "Yes, they will." Then, to the whole crowd, he said, "Thank you." Everyone started to leave talking among themselves about what had happened.

TJ said to Melissa, "Let's go tell Scott you're ok. He's been worried sick." It took them a few minutes to make their way against the crowd. By the time they got close to the console, Melissa could see that Everett, Eli, and Chloe had made their way into the room. Everett hurried over to Scott and asked, "Did you find Melissa?"

He began, "No, we haven't found…."

Rush interrupted, "Volker was supposed to take her some place safe."

Ev looked at the group of people gathered around him and asked, "Well, where is she?"

Missy came out from behind Mac and said with a hesitant smile, "I'm here, Ev."

"Oh, thank God." He flashed their signal at her, and as she did the same, she walked around the console and into his arms. Knowing that she was safe now and that she could lean on his strength, she started crying. He said, "I'm here, baby. I'm here. It's ok. I love you. I'm not leaving you anymore." When he tightened his hold on her, he noticed that she flinched, "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Missy hiccupped and said, "I don't want you letting go of me, Ev, but if you would not press in on my back so hard, I would appreciate it."

"What happened, Babe?" He looked down the back of her shirt and saw a huge mass of red and purple bruises. "Oh, my God. TJ, you need to look at this."

"I was about to just before we got rid of Telford." She looked down Missy's shirt and said, "We probably need to continue this in the infirmary."

The group started to leave when they noticed two dead bodies near the door. Missy sagged against Ev when she saw who they were—Saunders and Williams. He put his arm around her waist as she cried in relief, "They can't hurt me anymore."

Everett looked around at all his friends and said, "I have a feeling that there's a very long story behind this which I am willing to wait for until we get to the infirmary, but I do need to know one thing. There's not a murderer aboard the Destiny, is there?"

A voice piped up from the door. It was Camille Wray. "No murderer, Colonel. I don't know what happened with Dr. Mitchell, but what happened to those two; well, it was self-defense."

"Yes," said Rush. "I was going to tell you later. When they realized that Dr. Mitchell had disappeared, they came at me. I got one with my knife, and Peterson helped me with the other one."

"Ok, good, I can't say I'm sorry about it, but I'm glad it wasn't in cold blood," said Ev. He smiled down at Missy who had her arm around his waist. "Come on sweetheart let's get you to the infirmary." They walked down the hall and reached the makeshift infirmary a few minutes later. TJ looked around at the group which had gotten large as several of the Marines who had hunted for Melissa wanted to make sure she was ok. "Alright, let's try and maintain some semblance of privacy. Everyone wait out here except for the Colonel, Mac who needs to get back in a bed, and Greer. As soon as I have Dr. Mitchell bandaged up, the rest of you can come in."

The people that she named followed TJ into the infirmary, and Melissa hopped up onto a bed. She started to unbutton the buttons on her uniform shirt, but couldn't finish when her hands started shaking. TJ walked over and said, "Shock's setting in. It's normal. Let the Colonel help you."

As he started undoing the buttons, Everett leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Now this I like to do." Melissa smiled and said softly, "I like it when you do this too." He finished and took the shirt off of her and then helped with her undershirt and bra. Noticing that she visibly winced, he looked around at her back and saw that it was completely covered with red and purple bruises from her shoulders down to her breastbone. Missy asked, "How bad does it look because it sure does feel bad?"

"It's pretty bad," said TJ who had come back with a tube of cream in her hand. "I need to put some antibiotic cream on it before bandaging it up. Hey, Colonel, why don't you do that while I examine Greer?"

"Sure." He took the tube of cream from TJ and started spreading it on her back. "I'm not pressing too hard am I, Missy?"

"No, you're not, Ev. You have a very gentle touch." He finished putting the cream on, and TJ bandaged the upper part of her back. When she was done, Missy asked, "Is the baby ok?"

"I was wondering that myself," said Everett.

TJ smiled at them and said, "Well, let's find out." She unfastened Missy's pants and felt around the baby bulge. "Your baby certainly does like to kick, doesn't she?"

"Yes, she does," said Missy who smiled and squeezed Ev's hand.

"I think she's fine. It would be nice if we had an ultrasound machine, but I think she's ok." She motioned for Missy to refasten her pants. "Now, you need to wear something very loose over this bandage for the next few days, and no bra—it'll cut into your back."

Melissa glanced over at Everett and said, "I'm gonna need one of your shirts, sweetheart."


	5. Chapter 5

Final Decision

Author's Notes: refer to first chapter

Disclaimer: refer to first chapter

"Your wish is my command." He unbuttoned his own uniform shirt, took off his t-shirt, and helped Missy into it. Then he put the uniform shirt back on. Once he had done that, he found an extra pillow and used it to prop Missy up in the bed. "How does that feel, Babe?"

"It feels good. Thank you."

TJ walked over from where she had been searching in one of the medical crates. "I found some pain medicine that'll be ok for you take with the baby. It won't knock you out, but it will take the edge off." She handed a pill and canteen to Melissa.

"Thanks TJ." She swallowed the pill and took a sip of water.

"Alright, I think we are open for visitors," said TJ. "Greer, go look and see how many we have."

Greer went to the door and glanced out. "There are twenty people out here." He grinned at Melissa. "Guess you're popular, Doc."

Coming to stand beside him, Young said, "I want to keep the story of what happened to our core group and Rush."

"We can do that," said TJ, "but there's something you need to know, Sir. All the Marines out there, they volunteered to search for Melissa earlier. She's garnered a lot of respect from them that I don't think any of us knew she had. One of them told me, 'I'll help you search, ma'am. Dr. Mitchell's the only one of the scientists that doesn't treat us like we're stupid.' And another one said, 'She did her duty at Icarus, ma'am. I consider her to be just as military as we are.'"

"Oh, my goodness," said Melissa who had an amazed smile on her face. "I had no idea. Ev, I'll see anyone who wants to see me. I have a lot of thank yous to say."

"So do I, Babe. So do I. Ok, Greer, start letting people in." They spent the next few minutes visiting with the Marines and other members of the crew who had come to see her. Both Melissa and Everett made a point of saying thank you to everyone who had helped with the search. When the others had left and only their core group was still in the room, Ev asked, "Ok, what happened here today?"

The ones who had been on the ship all day looked at each other not sure how to explain the sordid mess. The colonel repeated himself, "I don't care who starts."

Mac spoke up, "I guess I'll start, Sir. The first time we knew that something might be up was right after breakfast this morning. Telford came in and said that one of the scientists wanted Melissa to check a translation for him, and he had a fit when I got up to go with her. We went to the Control Room and…"

Melissa continued, "She really didn't need any help. You remember Lynn McCormack, don't you?"

"Oh god, yes," said Ev. "Those types of women were women we called man sharks when I was in school."

Mac chuckled, "She had a name for you too, Sir."

"Let me tell the story, Mac" laughed Missy. "It was the only funny part about today." She continued, "I asked her why she had wanted me to come when it was obvious that she didn't need my help. She said she wanted to know if the rumors flying around Homeworld Command were true. And when I asked her what rumors, she said the one that the 'dishy Everett Young had gotten you pregnant.' I don't think she liked it when Mac and I started laughing."

"Dishy? What in the world!"

Everyone started laughing, and it was a few minutes before anyone else spoke. Finally, TJ said, "We decided it must be the new term for 'hot male'."

Ev looked over at Missy and winked before he said, "Oooh, 'hot male', I think I like that."

She leaned forward and affectionately punched him on the arm. "Only if you are my 'hot male'."

He turned to her and said, "Always, baby," before gently kissing her lips. Melissa then continued with the story, "She also gave me a friendly warning and said that Telford was really pissed that you were here, and he wasn't and that I should watch my back which turned out to be accurate advice."

Mac spoke up, "I talked to TJ and Scott after we heard this, Sir, and we decided that I should keep Melissa somewhere that had a lot of people so we went to the Mess. Looking back, I should have had her stay there when I had to run up to my quarters and get something." A look of devastation appeared on his face. "If I had done that, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

Everett walked over to Mac's bed and put his hand on his shoulder. "No guilt, Lieutenant. I feel guilty enough for leaving."

"Anyway, Sir, we got to my quarters, and that's the last thing I remember before waking up here."

The group gazed at Melissa who would have to carry the next part of the story. She took a deep breath and said, "When Mac collapsed, I got my radio out and called a medical emergency in his quarters. Before I could say anything else, the radio was snatched out of my hand and pushed out of reach. It was Saunders and Williams." She paused for a moment gathering strength as Ev gave her hand an encouraging squeeze. "I tried to run, but Williams grabbed me, and they forced me to go down the hall. They went to the quarters where they had been staying, and Telford was in there. When I asked him what he wanted, he said he wanted me. He also said he wanted to teach someone a lesson and for the other two not to do anything till he came back."

"He was going to get me," said Greer who had been standing in a corner. "He had confined me earlier for that thing on Icarus and moved me over to the other quarters. When we got there, I saw Dr. Mitchell, Saunders and Williams and asked him what kind of game he was playing. He said it was the game where I couldn't prevent anything he chose to have done to Dr. Mitchell. And for the next several minutes, one of them would hold my arms behind me while the other two beat the crap out of her back. Telford was finally called away for the weapons test."

When Greer stopped talking, Melissa gazed over at Ev who was looking at his hands in horror. He then looked at her and said in a choked voice, "I caused this. I caused you pain."

Immediately knowing what he was thinking, Missy said, "No, Ev, no you didn't. Everett Young, look at me." When she saw she had his attention, she continued, "He used your body to do this. It wasn't you, honey. You have never raised a hand to me, and I meant what I said earlier about you having a gentle touch. What I consider to be you," she pointed to her head and her heart, "didn't do this, ok?" He nodded as he clasped her hands with a grateful smile.

Greer continued, "Telford came back and had Saunders and Williams slap us around a bit and then sent us to the Gate Room separately threatening to kill us if we said anything."

"When I got there," said Melissa, "he pushed me over to the console where Dr. Rush was and wanted me to check his numbers. Telford told Saunders and Williams that he was going to make me disappear so you could never find me, and when our baby was born, he was going to mail it back to you in cut-up pieces. I knew then that my life wasn't going to be worth anything if we got back to Earth, so I told him everything looked fine even though some of the calculations were wrong."

Rush spoke up. He had been so quiet no one had remembered he was there. "When they brought the lass over there, she looked terrified. And then I heard what they said, and I saw the knife. I had already planned to get rid of Telford because his plan wouldn't have worked. Anyway, Volker was standing next to me, and I told him to take her and hide her, the first time those guys weren't paying attention. And he did. When they realized she was gone, they came after me. I got one with my knife, and Peterson helped me with the other one."

Looking at Rush with newfound respect, Everett said, "I have sorely misjudged you, Doctor. Will you accept my apology and my thanks for what you did for Missy?" He held out his hand, and Rush nodded taking the hand and shaking it. Then he looked at the rest of them and said, "I guess that takes us to when I came back." Seeing the affirming nods around the room, he continued, "Alright, the first thing we're gonna do is: people from Earth that come via the stones no longer get unfettered access to this ship. We have handlers when we go to Earth; there's no reason why we shouldn't do the same here. I'm thinking two guards 24/7 should be fine. Scott, can you take care of that when we're done here?"

"Yes, Sir."

"The other thing we need to figure out is whether any of this was sanctioned by Earth or whether Telford just went nuts. I'm going to take a day to decide how I want to handle this, and I will let you know tomorrow."

The meeting broke up, and all of the healthy people headed over to the Mess. Greer tapped TJ on the shoulder and asked, "Do I need to stay?"

"No, you're ok, but I might need your help so stay for just a minute." She looked around at the occupied beds and said to Mac, "Mac, you're staying the night. You have a concussion."

"Yes, ma'am. I don't think I want to move right now anyway."

TJ then gazed at Melissa, "Melissa, I'd like you to stay too. Just to monitor your pain level and change the dressing if I need too. Colonel, does that mean you're staying too?"

"Yeah, it does." Ev tousled Missy's hair and gave her a fond smile. "I gotta keep an eye on this one."

TJ grinned and said to Greer, "That's what I need your help with. We need to make sure everyone in here gets a ration. Turning to the Colonel, she asked, "We'll just be a couple of minutes. Will you be ok with them?"

"I sure will. You're getting me one too, right?"

"Yep, that makes 5 we need, Greer, including you and me. Help me remember that."

Greer replied, "You got it." The two of them headed over to the Mess. After they left, Mac lay back down on his pillow and said, "Guys, wake me up when they come back."

"We will, Mac," said Melissa.

She then watched as Ev walked back over and sat on the bed with her. He took her hand in his and said, "You doing ok, baby?"

"Yeah, the pain pill finally kicked in."

"I'm glad. I have to ask you a question. Do you know how amazing you are?"

Melissa shook her head and gave him a wry grin. "No, I'm not amazing. It would have been amazing if I hadn't have been hurt."

"No, you don't understand, sweetheart" replied Ev. "You have so much courage. When I got your message through the link today, I about fell apart. You were hurt, and there was nothing I could do."

"You don't know how scared I was, Ev," said Missy, "but I could feel your love through our link, and I knew everything would be ok. It was like you were holding me. Speaking of which, that pain pill has kicked in enough," she pointed to the space next to her, "I would really like it if you sat there and put your arms around me."

"That I can do, baby." He moved next to her on the bed and gently cradled her in his arms. Stroking her baby bump, he said to it, "Angel, you performed your assignment well today. Thank you for taking care of Mama." They both felt her kick in response.

"You know, Ev, I swear, I heard her voice today through all this mess. It was like she was giving me courage too."

Everett gave her an incredulous look, "Wow, I heard her voice too. I guess we still have a lot to learn about our Alteran heritage."

Leaning towards him, she said, "Yes, we do, but right now I want to do this." She softly kissed him on the lips and then pulled him closer to her as they continued to kiss. A moment or two later they heard an amused voice from the door. "Alright, you two, get a room." It was Greer and TJ back with the rations.

Missy and Ev sat back up on the bed, but not before he winked at Missy and said, "Sergeant, I thought we were in a room."

Blushing furiously, Missy exclaimed, "Everett, behave yourself!" Looking at TJ, she shook her head and chuckled, "That's men for you."

"You got that right," said TJ. Everyone laughed as the two of them began passing out rations. While they were eating, Mac, who had woken up, regaled them with stories from his last posting before he came to the SGC, and Ev and Missy told stories from their days on SG-16. Finally, TJ could see her patients tiring and said it was time to call it a night.

As Greer was heading out he told Young, "I'll check in with you in the morning, Sir."

"Wait a minute, Sergeant, I need to run a quick errand, and I'll walk with you." He turned to Missy and said, "I need to run over to our quarters and get another t-shirt. Is there anything you want?"

Melissa thought for a moment and then replied, "Can you get my hairbrush, toothbrush, and sweatpants please? Oh, and you might want to check Mac's quarters for the radio. Hopefully, it wasn't broken when they took it from me."

Everett noticed the tightening of her voice when she made the last statement and touched her shoulder gently before he said, "Sure can, Sweetheart. I'll be back in a few minutes." He left the infirmary with Greer.

While he was gone, TJ took a moment to examine both her patients. When she came to Melissa's bed, she looked at the dressing on her back and said, "This is looking fine. You'll probably need another pain pill overnight. I'm going to leave this here on the night stand and, very important, do not try and get up by yourself. Your body experienced a trauma today. If you need to get up, make sure the Colonel helps you, okay."

"I will, TJ. Thank you. Listen, he's ok…." Missy motioned to the space next to her, "if he sleeps there?"

"Yes, it's okay." She sat on the edge of the bed. "Melissa, I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me? That should be the opposite way around, TJ. You've had to fool with me plenty since we've been on this ship."

"No, that's not what I meant. I've watched you and the Colonel together, and I can tell how much the two of you love each other. But he respects you too and the contributions that you make. I want a relationship of my own like that someday."

Noticing that Mac had taken an interest in what TJ was telling her, Missy said with an encouraging smile, "I think you will, TJ. Just stay open to it."


	6. Chapter 6

Final Decision

Author's Notes: refer to first chapter

Disclaimer: refer to first chapter

At that moment Ev walked back in the room with a small bag. Grinning, he came over to the bed and told Missy, "I found everything you wanted, Babe—your hairbrush, toothbrush, and sweatpants—and I have a surprise." She could tell he was holding something behind his back.

"Well, what is it, Ev?" He held out two boxes of her favorite strawberry snack bars. Her eyes almost popped out of her face in astonishment. "Where did you get those, sweetheart? I thought I finished my stash two weeks ago."

"You finished all the ones in your bag two weeks ago. Becker found these with the rest of the supplies. They had your name stamped on the bottom. He brought them to me and said, 'These should have gone to Dr. Mitchell in the first place. I know she needs more calories now because of the baby. Can you make sure she gets them?'"

"That was nice. I hope you thanked him."

"I did. Why don't you eat one now and then we can get ready for bed?" Melissa opened one up and ate it while Ev went in the bathroom and got ready for bed. When he came back out, he asked her, "Ok, Missy, what do you need me to help you with?"

"Well, I've been told," she motioned to where TJ was working at the other end of the room, "not to get up by myself tonight so I guess you can help me change into these," she pointed to the sweatpants, "and then help me over to the bathroom. I can unbraid my hair and brush it when I'm sitting back in the bed.

"That works for me," said Ev who helped Missy to stand up next to the bed. When she wobbled and would have fallen if he hadn't of caught her, she said, "Ok, now I understand why she doesn't want me up by myself."

Ev smiled at her softly. "It's ok, baby. I've got you. Just go slow and easy." He helped her over to the bathroom, and she went in to do what she needed to do. After she came back out, he helped her over to the bed where she sat back down and started unbraiding her hair. As she was reaching for her brush, Ev put his hand on top of hers and asked, "Can I brush it?"

"Sure." He started brushing her hair which had a very soothing effect on her. "Mmmm, that feels good, sweetheart. Hey, I have a question."

"What's that, Babe?"

"Have you decided what to do about Telford yet?"

Giving her a serious look, Everett said, "You don't waste any time, do you?" Melissa raised her eyebrows with her infamous 'don't mess with me look'. "I know, baby, you have every right to be involved. Tell me what you think of this. I was going to go report on this fiasco tomorrow. Telford will want to be there so I don't think he'll be on the stones, but what I want is to have someone on our end ready to disconnect after about an hour. And it can be you, if you want, as long as someone's with you."

"I think I'll take you up on that, Ev. Thank you." She thought for a moment and then remembered something else, "Listen, you said something earlier about this possibly being sanctioned by Earth. What did you mean?"

Everett stood up and paced at the side of her bed. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I think they want this ship really bad, and there are certain elements that don't want me on this ship. If you couple that with what we've done even though it technically wasn't wrong, it wouldn't surprise me if someone had ordered Telford to do what he did."

Melissa nodded in understanding, but then said, "Honey, I don't think Jack would sanction something like this." She pointed at her back.

"Babe, General O'Neill might not know."

"Yeah, you're right." She turned to face him and clasped his hands. "What are you thinking, sweetheart?"

Taking a deep breath, Ev replied, "If we have become targets, we will need to be very careful for the next three and a half months, and when the Alteran ship meets us, we should ask them for asylum. I'll know more after I ask certain questions tomorrow."

"That's fine, Ev." She reached out and touched his face. "You know, I trust you, right?"

"Yes, I do, Missy. I think I would have gone nuts by now if you hadn't have been here." Noticing that she had started to yawn, he smiled as he said, "Ok, bedtime for you." He pointed to the pill on the table. "Do you need to take that now?"

"TJ said I would probably need it overnight, but my preference would be not to wake up in pain."

"Well, let's ask." He called out to the medic. "TJ, we had a question. Is it ok if Missy takes the pill now?"

TJ walked over to the bed. "How are you feeling, Melissa?"

"I have some pain in my shoulders right now. I was hoping I wouldn't have to wake up in a lot of pain."

Looking at her watch, TJ shook her head, "I'd really prefer you to wait for another hour or so."

"Ok, I can do that," said Missy. TJ walked back over to the other side of the room.

Seeing her disappointment, Ev said, "Let's see what we can do for you naturally, sweetheart." He placed his hands on the lower part of her back and started massaging it. Five minutes later, a warm and tingling sensation started in the place where he was massaging and spread through the rest of her body. She turned towards him with an amazed expression as he asked, "Is that better, Missy?"

Melissa replied, "Ev, it's gone. The pain is gone. I feel better."

"What? Baby, I was going on instinct. That really worked?"

"Yeah, it did. I'm tired and sore, but it's a sore like when I've finished a workout. The actual pain is gone. It must have something to do with our genetic heritage. Thank you."

He hugged her and said, "You're welcome." Noticing that TJ was talking with Mac at the other end of the room, he said to her quietly, "Let's keep this between us for the moment." After seeing her nod of assent, he climbed in the bed and wrapped his arms around her. "At least, I don't have to worry about hurting you now. I love you, Missy. Sweet dreams."

"I love you too, Ev. Good night." They drifted off to sleep content in being with one another once more.

The next thing Missy knew it was morning, and she was hearing voices. One of them was TJ's. "I really hate to wake them up. It looks like they were able to sleep, and I know both of them needed it."

"But I know the Colonel will want to hear about the contact from Earth," said Scott.

Groaning, Everett turned over and said, "I am awake. This had better be good."

"I'm awake too," said Melissa. She opened her eyes slowly to get them used to the light. "It's morning already?"

"Sorry Sir. Sorry Dr. Mitchell. Sir, Lieutenant Hamilton from Homeworld Command came through on the stones. He said they were wondering when you were planning to report on the events of yesterday."

Ev gazed over at Missy and rolled his eyes before replying, "Oh, they are, are they? I will be reporting, but it will be on my timetable. Are the new protocols in place?"

"Yes, Sir. There will be two guards at all times. The person from Earth will only be allowed to use the facilities and Mess, and that order can only be lifted by you, me, Greer, or Mac. One of us will just need to be on the ship at all times."

"That's perfect. This is what I want for today. I'm going to go report, and I want someone on this end to be ready to disconnect after an hour." He glanced at Melissa and continued, "Melissa has asked for that privilege, and I've agreed to it. I want either you or Greer in there with her, and a guard on the outside."

Scott said, "Sounds good to me, Sir. What should I tell Hamilton?"

"Tell him two hours, Lieutenant." Scott nodded and hurried out of the infirmary. Ev then turned to Missy and said, "Morning sweetheart. How are you feeling?"

"Better. Sore, but better. I do need to get up though."

Ev scooted off the bed and helped her stand up. "How does that feel?"

"Just hold my hand, Ev. If I'm ok this time, I should be ok to walk on my own." He walked her over to the bathroom, and she went in and took care of what she needed to do. When she came out, she said, "Let me see if I can get back there on my own." Ev watched her closely, but she was able to make it back to the bed on her own.

Once Melissa had sat back down on the bed, TJ said, "Alright, let's take a look at you. I was surprised you didn't need a pain pill last night." She lifted up the dressing and saw where the bruising had greatly diminished. "Ok, is there something you want to tell me?"

"What do you mean?"

TJ motioned for the colonel to come take a look. "Wow, it looks a lot better, sweetheart."

"A lot better than it should," said TJ who put her hands on her hips and gave Melissa and Everett a slightly scolding look. "Neither of you do innocent real well. Tell me what happened."

Sheepishly, the colonel said, "Sorry TJ. Missy didn't want to wake up and be in a lot of pain last night so I just started massaging the small of her back. I didn't think anything of it, and ….."

Melissa interrupted, "about five minutes later this warm and tingling sensation started radiating from that spot and went through my whole body. Then I felt better."

"I don't understand how I knew to do that," said Ev putting his arm around Missy's waist as he continued, "Maybe it's something I saw my father do for my mother."

A voice came from the doorway. "You are correct in your assumption, Colonel Young." The three of them looked towards the sound. It was David, the ascended being that Melissa and Everett had already met. Gazing at TJ steadily, he said, "Lieutenant Johansen, you are providing their medical care?"

Recovering from her astonishment, TJ replied, "Uhh, yes, yes, I am. Are you the same person they saw before?"

"I am. Everett, Melissa, and their unborn child are very important to us. We wanted to make sure you were offered encouragement in your efforts."

"Thank you. I have to tell you though that sometimes I feel very inadequate."

David nodded and said, "I understand. You should know that they have a lot of instinctual knowledge about what they need to do for each other if there is an injury—like how Everett knew how to relieve Melissa's pain. You can trust in that, and I also know that you have been concerned about delivering their baby. When Melissa's time comes, the Alteran ship will have arrived at your location, and you will have help." Beginning to disappear, David finished his statements, "Trust in yourself, Lieutenant Johansen, and trust in Melissa and Everett's instincts. That will be all that you'll need."

After he disappeared, Melissa noticed that TJ was swaying on her feet. She motioned to Everett and said, "Ev, sit her down before she falls." Before he could reach her side though, Mac had reached her and was gently leading her to the bed. Once she had sat down, Missy asked, "Are you ok, TJ?"

Giving her an amazed look, TJ replied, "I can't believe I actually saw that. How did you….?"

"You forget something. We've had a month to get used to it."

"Well, what do I need to do for you now?"

"It's not totally healed; a lot of the pain is just gone. I still want to wear my clothes loose over it for a day or so, and I guess we should watch for any kind of infection. I'm thinking I also need to watch my activity level."

Nodding her head affirmatively, TJ stated, "Now, we're getting back into things I understand. I agree with all of that."

The colonel spoke up, "You're doing fine, TJ. We both trust you, and we'll do what we can to help if there's any kind of question." Turning to Melissa, he said, "We should get ready, sweetheart. I want to go to the Mess with you before I use the stones."

"That works for me." She took her uniform jacket and put it on over the t-shirt and sweatpants. "How does that look, Ev?"

"Looks fine, Babe."

"Alright, all I need then is for you to help me with my boots." Everett nodded at her as he walked into the bathroom to get ready himself. While he was getting ready, Melissa hastily combed out her hair and put it into a braid. After he came out, Ev helped her tie the laces on her boots and they then headed out of the infirmary to go to the Mess. When they got there, one of the Marines started a round of applause that eventually made its way through the whole room. Melissa looked at Everett and asked, "Are they clapping for me?"

"I think they are, Babe." They sat down at a table as Airman Becker brought their rations. "Hello, Sir. Hi, Dr. Mitchell. Ma'am, I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Thank you Airman." As the two of them began to eat, several other members of the crew came up to express their good wishes to her as well.

Once they had finished eating, Everett and Melissa left the Mess and went towards the communications room. When they got there, Greer was waiting for them. He addressed the Colonel, "Sir, Scott and I discussed it, and we decided that I would get the privilege of being in here today." He touched the handle of his gun showing his readiness for whatever the visitor might pull.

Everett chuckled and said, "Sergeant, you know the likelihood of Telford coming is very small. He's going to want to make sure his ass is covered with the brass."

"Well, yes, but….."


	7. Chapter 7

Final Decision

Author's Notes: refer to first chapter

Disclaimer: refer to first chapter

Raising her eyebrows at Ev, Melissa interrupted, "And that means, sweetheart, that you can't pound his ass either." He turned to her with a look of disappointment on his face as she continued, "Ev, we discussed this last night. We need information—not for you to succumb to your he-man impulses."

"Ok, ok," laughed Ev. "I was actually just playing with you, Babe." He put his arms around her waist and gave her a very thorough kiss. When they broke apart, he said, "This is what we're going to do." Taking his watch off his wrist and handing it to Melissa, Ev continued, "I'm going to set this for one hour. When it beeps, take the stone off the unit, and I'll be back."

"That works for me, sweetheart. Be careful, and I will see you in an hour. Love you."

"Love you too, baby." Ev grinned and winked at her and then turned towards the unit taking the stone out of the box and placing it on the unit. Greer and Melissa realized the switch had occurred when the Colonel's demeanor changed. "So, I guess the guard has changed."

Greer placed his hand on his gun and asked, "And who might you be?"

"Oh, it's Lieutenant Hamilton. Colonel Telford warned me that the 'angry black man' might be guarding the stones." Hamilton looked closely at Melissa realizing who she was. "And it's the slut too. My day has been made."

Missy laughed sardonically as she turned to Greer, "You know, Sergeant, Homeworld Command is supposedly trying to get us home. And the only people they send here are calling us names. I wonder how much work they could actually get done if they quit acting like children."

Hamilton stood up quickly acting like he was going to hit Melissa when Greer moved between them with his gun out. He shook his head and said, "Uh, uh, uh. You're not getting near her. Why don't you just have a seat, and we'll wait for Colonel Young to be done." Knowing he wouldn't be successful, Hamilton sat back down to wait it out.

Meanwhile, Colonel Young was pacing around the room as he was briefing representatives of the IOA and the military on Earth. "Colonel Telford removed not only any sense of command, but also removed the two scientists who designed and implemented the program that was causing the crisis."

Dr. Williams said, "The situation appeared to be irreversible."

"Of course," stated Young, "and Dr. Rush was able to avoid catastrophic disaster."

"Yes, and we'd like to see how he did that, along with the rest of the data collected during the experiment," said Williams.

Disgusted by their lack of concern, Young said, "Yeah, those were people's lives you were experimenting with."

"We were trying to get them home," said Telford.

Young gave Telford an ugly stare. "Does trying to get them home include satisfying personal vendettas?" The tension in the room was palpable as he waited for an answer, but no one said anything in response. Finally, the IOA representative, whose name was Strom, stated, "There was no point in three more lives being lost if it could be avoided."

General O'Neill gazed at Strom and then looked back over at Colonel Young and said, "Colonel Telford was following orders."

At that moment, Everett knew that he, Melissa, and their baby could never live on Earth again without their lives being constantly at risk. It took everything he had to keep his composure, but was able to do it when he thought of how much Melissa and their baby meant to him. In response to the general's comment, he said, "Sure. After much consideration, we've decided to stay in communication with Earth. I hope personal visits will still be permitted."

Strom said, "That depends, Colonel."

"Consider it done," remarked O'Neill. Strom looked at him in surprise, not having expected Jack to override him like that.

"Thank you, Sir." Young looked at the clock on the wall and said, "I'm afraid the time that I've allotted for this briefing is now up." He threw another ugly glare at Telford and then nodded politely to Jack. "General."

As Young left the room, Strom threw an angry look at Jack who ignored it as he followed the colonel. He finally caught up with Young halfway down the hall. "Colonel Young, what the hell was that about?"

"That was about a group of people that cares more about getting a ship than about getting 76 people home safely." Noticing that Telford was walking rapidly towards them, Everett said, "And as far as the rest of it goes, ask the person who likes to beat up pregnant women and threaten to cut their babies up."

"What are you talking about?"

Young motioned towards Telford and then blinked several times. It was Hamilton. The hour had come and gone, and Melissa had taken the stone off the unit. Bewilderedly, not understanding why he was with O'Neill and Telford, Hamilton said, "Sir?"

"It's alright, Lieutenant," said Telford. "You can go." Hamilton nodded and walked on down the hall.

When Telford was alone with the general once more, he was surprised to be slammed against the wall. O'Neill asked, "What the hell did you do to Melissa?"

"I don't understand, Sir. They disobeyed the frat rules."

"And you think that gives you carte blanche to hurt her! Telford, you might not know her maiden name. It was Hammond."

A sinking feeling came over Telford. "Hammond? As in …."

"George Hammond's adopted daughter. You're in a lot of trouble." As O'Neill motioned Telford down the hall, he continued to explain what the possible ramifications of his conduct would be.

Meanwhile, on the Destiny, Hamilton had been lying on the couch with Greer and Missy closely watching him. When Everett's watch beeped, Missy said, "Time for the Colonel to come back." She took the stone off the unit and placed it back in the box. Walking over to the couch, she saw Hamilton blink his eyes several times and then open them slowly. "Everett?"

The gentle smile that she knew so well came over his face. He flashed their signal and said, "It's me, baby. I'm back, and I am really glad to see my girls." He stood up, and they gave each other a long hug.

Giving him a fond smile, Missy said, "We're glad to see you too, sweetheart. How did it go?"

"It went about as well as we expected it would." Gazing over at Greer, Young said, "Sergeant, I would like to address the whole crew at 1400. Could you please let Lieutenant Scott know and start passing the word along?"

"Yes, Sir." Greer left the communications room. Everett then looked at Melissa and said, "Let's walk down to our quarters, Missy. I need to talk to you without the possibility of anyone else walking in on us."

"Ok." Since their quarters were only one corridor away, it didn't take them long to get there. When they arrived, Missy turned to Ev and asked, "Ok, honey, what happened?"

"You need to sit, baby. You're not gonna like it." He waited until she had sat down on the small couch before he continued. "What Telford did was sanctioned by the IOA."

"Oh no!"

"Yeah. The one piece of good news is that I don't think General O'Neill knew about it. I was able to plant a bug in his ear before the hour was up, but I don't think Earth is safe for either of us right now."

Melissa nodded her head sadly. "I think you're right, Ev. Do you think we're gonna be ok here?"

"You know, after this morning, I think we will be. People respond well to being treated with respect, and I think you've done a good job of bringing people together."

"I appreciate that."

"However, I do want to work with you on adapting some basic self-defense moves to accommodate your new center of gravity." He pointed to her baby bump.

Giving him a wry grin, Melissa said, "Yep, you are right about this center of gravity thing. Every time I've tried to defend myself since we've been here hasn't worked very well."

"Why don't you go talk to TJ about it? You can collect our stuff out of the infirmary at the same time."

"Sure." She got up to leave and then stopped when she saw him staying at the desk. "You're not coming with me?"

"Nope," said Ev. He pulled a radio out of the desk drawer. "I found this on the floor of Mac's quarters last night. Since Saunders and Williams are gone now, I think you are ok to start walking around the ship on your own again. Just let me know when you get there and when you're coming back if you would. I'd like to see you rest a bit before the all-crew meeting."

Feeling her face about to split from the huge grin on it, she said, "Oh, thank you. Thank you, Ev. You don't know how much this means to me."

"I think I do, baby. See you in a few minutes."

"Ok." Missy gave him a quick kiss and then left to go towards the infirmary. As she walked, she passed several of the Marines who enthusiastically greeted her and let her know how glad they were that she was feeling better. By the time she reached the infirmary, Missy felt like she had talked with half of the ship, but it felt really good. When she walked in, she greeted TJ and Mac, "Hey guys."

"Hi Melissa," said Mac. "And why are you by yourself?"

The huge grin that spread over Missy's face was infectious. She said, "Since Saunders and Williams are gone now, we thought it would be ok for me to be on my own. Hold on. Gotta do something." She pulled out her radio. "Mitchell to Young."

"Young here."

"I'm in the infirmary, Ev."

"Fantastic. See you in a bit, Missy."

"You got it."

She turned the radio off as TJ asked, "How did things go with Homeworld Command?"

"About as well as we thought they would. Listen, the Colonel wanted me to come and get our stuff assuming I'm getting discharged."

TJ laughed and said, "You are as bad as this one," pointing at Mac. "Yes, you can go back to quarters. I'd like you to take it easy for a day or so. Nothing too strenuous."

"Works for me. Oh, one other question. Do either of you have any suggestions on some basic self-defense moves that would work with my center of gravity issues?"

Mac said, "I can help you with that, Melissa, once we're both completely cleared."

"Thanks Mac." She walked over to the bed she had stayed in the night before and picked up her toiletry bag and uniform shirt and pants. As she headed out, she said to TJ, "Thanks again for everything," and then to both of them, "I'll see you later on at the all-crew meeting." They nodded in response, and she went out into the corridor. Pulling out her radio again, she let Ev know she was coming back and then started walking in the direction of their quarters. When she was almost there, she ran into Brody. "Hi, Dr. Brody. How are you?"

"I'm doing well, Dr. Mitchell. Looks like you're feeling better too. Listen, we're having a translation issue in the Control Room. Rush can't even figure it out. I remembered you saying you had a text with you that Dr. Jackson wrote. Can we borrow it?

"Sure. It's in my quarters." They walked around the corner and Melissa pressed the door entry to their quarters saying to Everett. "Hey Ev, I'm back."

Looking up from the legal pad he was writing on, he greeted her with a welcoming smile. "Hi Missy. Hello Dr. Brody."

Melissa walked over to the bed and laid down the stuff she had collected from the infirmary." She then turned to him and asked, "Ev, do you know where my Ancient reference text is? They need to borrow it in the Control Room."

Pulling open the bottom drawer of the desk, Everett got the book out and handed it to her, "It's right here, Babe. Remember, you put it in the drawer for safe keeping."

"That's right. I remember now. Thanks." Taking the book from him, she handed it to Brody, "Here you go. Hope it helps."

Brody nodded at her gratefully and said, "Thanks Dr. Mitchell. I'll return it when we're done." He said good-bye to both of them and then left.

Once they were alone, Ev turned to Missy and asked, "So, what did TJ have to say?"

"She said I was ok to come back here. Nothing strenuous for a day or so. Oh, and Mac said that he could help me with that self-defense stuff once he's completely cleared. Maybe the three of us could get together in a day or so."

"That works for me." He went back to sit at the desk and write while she sat on the couch. After about five minutes or so, he lifted up his pen and asked her, "Would you look at this, Missy? I was writing out some of my thoughts about what I wanted to say to the crew later."

"I'd be glad to, sweetheart." Melissa took the legal pad from him and started reading. "Oh, Ev, this is perfect—just the right combination of hope and the necessity for all of us to pull together."

"Thanks Babe." Everett took a careful look at the pad one more time and then put it down on the desk. He glanced at his watch as he walked over to the sofa. "We've got about two hours before the meeting. Do you want to lie down and rest?"

Missy gazed at him with a mischievous grin as he sat down with her. "Naah, I'm not tired."


	8. Chapter 8

Final Decision

Author's Notes: refer to first chapter

Disclaimer: refer to first chapter

"Well, what would you think if I took the word rest out of my question?" asked Ev as he leaned forward and kissed her.

Looking at him with passion in her eyes, she said, "I think I would like that very much. Of course, we can't do anything too strenuous."

"I wasn't thinking of strenuous, baby. I was just thinking of how good I could make you feel." He undid her jacket and started kissing her neck.

"Then I will definitely have to take you up on it." They began kissing each other passionately moving over to the bed so they would have more room. After they had helped each other shed their clothes, Missy noticed Ev looking at her with a sense of wonder. "What is it, Ev?"

"You are so beautiful, baby. I don't know how I got so lucky."

Tears of joy poured down Missy's face as she experienced his emotions and her own through their link. "I'm the lucky one, sweetheart." They spent the next several minutes showing one another exactly what they were feeling. When they were finished, Missy glanced at her watch and said, "We've got forty-five minutes until the meeting. We should probably get ready."

"Yes, you're right." The two of them put their clothes back on, and Ev helped Missy to tie her boots. Once they were ready, they left their quarters and headed down towards the Gateroom hand in hand. When they arrived, Melissa gave Ev's hand an encouraging squeeze and then went to join Mac, TJ, and Greer who were standing towards the front of the crowd.

A few minutes later Everett could tell that they had their full crew complement in the room. He began speaking. "As you all know, the attempt to dial the gate back to Earth yesterday failed. Much more research will need to be done before another attempt can be made. We're going to have to be tough and disciplined. The road may be longer than many of us hoped. We will have to sacrifice, compromise, and work together without exceptions. We have an opportunity though to see a part of the universe that no one from Earth has ever seen, and our willingness to be open to new ideas will be what helps us to survive because we are going to survive. We will make it home. Make no mistake. My first priority is to make sure everyone returns to those they love. Thank you."

After he had finished speaking, the crew filed out of the Gateroom talking about what they had heard. Melissa was pleased to see that the reaction was fairly positive. As she was talking to Mac, she felt someone gently touch her shoulder. It was Dr. Rush. "Lass, I'm glad to see you up and around. I appreciate you letting us use your reference text, but we are having a dispute about what a line of text means. I was wondering if you could help us break the impasse."

"I'd be happy to, Dr. Rush." She told Mac, "Will you tell the Colonel I'll be in the Control Room, and that I'll talk to him later?"

"Sure, Melissa."

Rush and Melissa left the Gateroom and headed towards the Control Room where Dr. Park and Dr. Brody were waiting for them. Brody said, "I see you got some more help, Rush."

"Yes, Dr. Brody, I found the person who was directly tutored in this language by the author of the text." He turned to Dr. Mitchell and said, "I do have that right, don't I? Dr. Jackson did teach you to read Ancient and Alteran."

Melissa chuckled as she said, "Yes, that's right, Rush. What's the problem?"

Dr. Park spoke up, "It's on this panel over here." She motioned to one of the control panels, and Melissa walked over to look. "Brody and I think it says, 'when those of our blood came to the Destiny,' while Rush thinks it says, 'when those of our blood will come to the Destiny.' What do you think?"

Gazing at the panel, Melissa wondered if the answer as to why the systems on Destiny had reactivated had been in front of them all the time. She realized the others were still waiting for an answer. "Neither of you are right. It says, 'when those of our blood have returned to the Destiny.' What is the context of this statement?"

Dr. Rush brought up another screen. "This talks about how the major systems of the ship are activated like you have to have some kind of key." He stepped aside so she could read the entire panel. "I'm wondering if that means they can only be activated by someone with an Alteran gene."

"You might very well be right, Dr. Rush," said Missy. The four of them began to look at all of the panels related to ship's operations and animatedly discuss the possibilities of what each one meant. A few minutes later, while Brody, Park, and Melissa were debating on the possible location of the bridge, Everett walked into the Control Room. He didn't announce himself for a moment because he liked watching Missy interact with her scientific colleagues. She had always had an intellectual curiosity about the world around her ever since they had been at the SGC, and he would have to say, since she had been a child. Remembering that she had been able to read Nancy Drew books at the age of 3, he knew that she was special in all the ways that you could think of someone as special. Absorbed as he was in remembering, he didn't hear Dr. Rush coming up to him. "Liked what you had to say earlier, Colonel. I thought it was very inspirational."

"Thanks. I appreciate that, Doctor."

Rush gave him a curious look. "I do have a question though." He motioned to Melissa. "When is she due?"

"She's due at the end of March." Everett's eyes lit up as he continued. "It's a girl. Sims did Missy's initial exam the day of the attack and gave her an ultrasound picture. You could tell."

Chuckling, Rush remarked, "I have a lot of those same memories. Listen, you're not concerned about not being on Earth for the delivery?"

"Actually, no I'm not," replied Young who turned to Rush and winked. "That's because you guys are going to find the main infirmary by then and get us access."

"I might very well have done that. You should go see what we've found."

"I will in a minute. There's actually another reason I'm not concerned, and I should have talked to you about it before now. However, I do not want to this to be general ship knowledge. Only a few other people know. So, can you come to our quarters tonight about 7:30?

Curious, Rush replied, "Sure, I can do that."

"There's gonna be a poker game after, and you're welcome to stay for that as well."

"I'd like that." The men shook hands, and then Ev walked over to see what the others had found. Missy looked up from the panel, and when she saw who it was, her eyes lit up. "Hey Ev, you should see what we found. Well, actually…." She motioned to the other three in the room. "They're the ones that found it. They just asked me to help with the translating. It looks like a lot of the major ship's systems can only be activated by someone with an Alteran gene after the key code is found." She raised her eyebrows in silent communication with him.

"Wow, so I guess there's some kind of code in all this material."

Brody replied, "That's what we think, Colonel."

"Keep working then. I'm going to borrow Melissa for just a moment." Everett took Melissa over towards the door. "How are you feeling, Babe?"

Melissa grinned and said, "Feeling pretty good, Ev. This is some cool stuff."

He leaned toward her ear and said quietly, "Sounds like you and I might be busy if this code is found."

Just as quietly, she said, "We very well might be."

"Alright, well, keep at it. Listen, I wanted to let you know I've decided to tell Rush everything. He's coming to our quarters later at 19:30. And everyone else is coming at 20:00. Scott and Greer found a couple of decks of cards, and they thought a round of poker would be fun."

Flashing an impish grin at him, Missy said, "Does that mean I get to clean up again?"

"Not necessarily, you minx," laughed Ev. "I do want to make sure you get your ration though." Glancing at his watch, he continued, "It's 16:00 now. Meet me at the Mess at 18:30 or should I come back and get you? I know you, Babe. You'll get absorbed in this, and you'll forget."

Gazing at him sheepishly, she replied, "You know me too well, sweetheart. You'd better come back and get me."

"I thought so." He kissed her forehead. "Have fun." He left, and she returned to one of the computer consoles. The next couple of hours passed quickly as Missy and the others translated the programs and then discussed what the possibilities of each might be. By the time Everett walked back in, Melissa couldn't believe it was already time to go. "Alright, Missy, time to eat."

She looked up from the console she was translating. "Aww, nuts. Can I have five more minutes?"

Chuckling, Ev turned to Rush and said, "She used to do this all the time when we were offworld. And we had to make her eat then." He strolled over to the console, put his finger under her chin, and lifted it so she could see him. "No ma'am. You need to eat, sweetheart."

"Ok, ok," said Missy. She gazed at the other three who were all smiling. "I should be good for the whole day tomorrow. Do you guys want to keep the reference book?"

"I'll bring it back in a little while," said Rush.

Melissa nodded her assent, and Dr. Rush watched as she and Everett left the room hand in hand. Going to the doorway, he observed them walking slowly and could see they had a joy in just being with each other that he could remember from when he was married. Noticing that Dr. Park had joined him, he said, "You know, if I have to be stranded here with military people, there's one thing to be grateful for."

"What's that?" asked Park.

Rush replied, "That their commander understands scientists."

"You're right. I actually envy them a bit."

"How so?"

"I have never been around a couple that radiates happiness in just being with each other the way those two do." They watched as Missy and Ev stopped in the middle of the hallway—Missy laughing at something Ev had said as he tenderly brushed a strand of hair off of her face. They then rounded a corner and were no longer in sight. "And that's even with everything that's happened since we've been here. I think I'm going to head off myself if you don't mind."

"That's fine. I won't be here much longer either."

Meanwhile, Ev and Missy had arrived at the Mess and were looking for a place to sit as the room was just about full for this time of day. They heard a voice call out to them. "Colonel, Melissa, over here." It was Mac. He and TJ were sitting at a corner table, and they had saved two seats. "We thought you two might be in here at some point."

"Thanks Mac," said Melissa as she and Ev sat down. Airman Becker brought two more rations, and the four of them began eating. They noticed that the general tenor of the conversation was positive with several people speculating about where the ship would stop next. Missy remarked to the others, "I think things went well today."

"So do I," said TJ. Indicating Mac and herself, "We've heard a lot of people talk about things they can do to make life better on the ship. Oh, and you'll like this, Melissa. One of the administrative people found a closet, full of Ancient robes or clothing, I guess. She was telling me that her hobby is sewing and that she thought she could put something together that would let you have a maternity tunic. But she wants it to be a surprise so you can't say anything."

"Wow, that's really nice of her," said Missy.

"And there was something else, TJ," said Mac. "Remember that last planet where we got all the wood from."

Everett said, "I certainly do because I helped to cut it down. We put some of it in storage."

"Well, Reynolds' hobby is woodworking, and he talked with some of the scientists. If they can fashion some tools, he wants to try his hand at putting together a cradle for the baby."

Ev and Missy looked at each other in shock as Mac continued, "Now there are other things people are doing, but I thought you two would like to know that there's a lot of excitement about the baby."

"I don't know what to say, Mac," said Ev. "This doesn't even come close to anything that I was expecting."

"We say thank you, honey, if anything's given to us," said Missy reaching out to squeeze his hand. Ev nodded as he leaned towards her and kissed her forehead.

"Oh, and there's one other thing," said TJ. "Chloe's come up with something, but she wants to tell all of us when we play poker later."

"Ok." Missy looked at her watch and noticed the time. "Ev, it's 19:15. We probably need to finish up."

"You're right." Gazing at the other two, he remarked, "I did tell you we're increasing our group size by one tonight, didn't I?"

Mac replied, "You did, Sir. You've decided to tell Dr. Rush everything, and he's joining us for poker too."

"Yes, so we'll see the two of you around 20:00?"

"Sure will."

Missy and Ev got up from the table and went to clean their bowls. They then headed out of the Mess and walked back towards their quarters arriving there a short time later. About five minutes after they arrived, the door chimed, and it was Dr. Rush. Everett greeted him as he came in while Missy finished washing her face. She came out to see Ev sitting on the sofa while Rush was sitting in one of the chairs. Going over to the sofa as well, Missy sat down with Ev and put her feet in his lap. He smiled as he started unlacing her boots and said to Rush, "This has become a ritual for us since she hasn't been able to bend down far enough to lace and unlace them herself."

"Quite all right, Colonel. It doesn't bother me at all to see you taking care of the lass. In fact, I wanted to tell you how well I think things are going and that I've appreciated the freedom to work these last few weeks yesterday notwithstanding."

"Actually, I didn't get to tell you, Doctor. I had planned to tell Homeworld Command that we wanted to do more research on their plan before Telford hijacked us."


	9. Chapter 9

Final Decision

Author's Notes: refer to first chapter

Disclaimer: refer to first chapter

Rush nodded with satisfaction. "That's exactly what I meant. So, what did you want to talk with me about?"

"Let's go backwards from what you found today. I think I remember hearing that if a certain key code was found, someone with an Alteran gene could activate more of Destiny's systems."

"Yes, that's right."

Looking over at Missy who gave him an encouraging smile, Ev said, "Well, you're gonna have two people who can accomplish that task when you find it."

Not comprehending for a moment, Rush gazed at both of them and then asked, "Are you talking about you and the lass? I thought she was General …."

Melissa tapped her forehead and said to Everett, "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I should have remembered this part would confuse him." She then turned to Rush and stated, "Dr. Rush, I'm General Hammond's adopted daughter. Actually, if you were to put all of my names on a driver's license, it would need to be a big one. Let's see. Melissa Caitlin Allen was my birth name; my biological parents were killed when I was thirteen and the Hammonds adopted me after I was found wandering around Mountain Home, ID with amnesia; and Mitchell was my first husband's name. I'm pretty sure the divorce is final now though. Ev, didn't you tell me General O'Neill was going to have Cam take care of that?"

"Yes."

"Now, Dr. Rush, please know that last part is something I'm not proud of. In fact, if it hadn't have been for the frat rules, Ev and I probably would have been married long before now."

Shaking his head, Rush said, "Never liked the frat rules. Always thought they were too much of a distraction. And for the last couple of weeks, I've been watching the two of you. If there are not two people who are more meant to be together than the two of you, I don't know where they are."

A slow smile came over Missy's face as she clasped Ev's hand. "Thank you, Dr. Rush."

"You're welcome, lass. Now tell me about this Alteran thing."

"Well," said Ev, "after we first got to the Destiny, while we were waiting to crash into the sun, Missy and I saw an ascended Alteran."

"What!"

"He told us that they had detected our group coming onboard because of the presence of a strong Alteran gene in us and in the baby. Apparently, our parents were Alteran and abandoned on Earth by the Ancients shortly before I was born, but we were never told anything. My parents were killed when I was 17 and in the Air Force Academy."

Rush asked, "And you believed….?"

"We did, especially after TJ told us there were inconsistencies with Missy's blood work. Apparently, the differences between humans and Alterans are minimal, but they do show up in blood work."

"Wow! I appreciate you sharing that with me."

Melissa touched Ev's arm. "Sweetheart, you're forgetting the part he'll be the most interested in."

"Oh, yes." Ev grinned as he continued, "We were also told that there is a planet of present-day Alterans in this part of the universe. They are aware that Destiny has re-activated, and they've sent a ship to meet us. They'll be here by the time Missy is ready to deliver. So, can you understand why I'm not concerned about not being on Earth for the delivery?"

Dr. Rush's eyes had gotten as big as saucers during Everett's speech, and he didn't answer the question for a moment. When he realized the other two were still waiting for an answer, he replied, "Of course, I understand why you're not concerned. I also think I understand why you don't want the whole ship to know."

"Yes, because as long as we're letting people use the stones, there's a chance it could get back to Earth." Ev put his arm around Missy. "And considering I found out that what Telford did to Missy yesterday was ordered by the IOA, I'm not taking any more chances with her or the baby's safety."

"Oh my God! What did the lass do to deserve being beaten up like that?"

"Apparently, someone figured out she was important to me, and they didn't like it that I ended up here instead of their person."

"That makes sense."

Leaning forward in his seat, Everett said, "Dr. Rush, I would like us to work together. There is a lot of potential for discoveries to be made out here—on planets and on this ship. You can run the science team as you see fit. I just ask that you let me know if there's some kind of life and limb risk."

"Agreed." The two men shook hands. "I think this will be a productive partnership. I do have a question. You do know if we find the code, more people will find out about your Alteran gene?"

Melissa answered, "I'm thinking we can portray this as more of a latent thing—like General O'Neill has the Ancient gene—and we wouldn't have to go through all of the background stuff. What do you guys think?"

"Works for me," said Rush.

"Me too," said Ev who looked at his watch. "It is just about 20:00. Who's ready for poker?" At that moment, the door chimed. Everett said, "Come on in," and the door opened to reveal Scott, Greer, Chloe, Mac, TJ, and Eli who greeted the other three already in the room.

Holding up the cards, Greer said, "It is time for some fun!"

Her eyes alight with anticipation, Melissa asked, "So, what are we using for money, Sergeant?"

"We actually found poker chips." He dumped the pile in the middle of the table and gave her a curious glance. "How long have you played, Doc?"

Looking over at Ev, Missy said, "You didn't tell them. Tsk. Tsk. Sergeant, I've played for a while. Ask the Colonel how many watches I got out of when we were offworld."

Everett laughed as he put his arm around Missy's shoulders. "Missy is cutthroat as far as poker is concerned. When I first came to the SGC, there were about ten of us involved in a game, and I was the one that lasted the longest against her. Let's see, who was in that game? It was General O'Neill, Colonel Feretti, Colonel Carter, and Dr. Jackson along with a few others. They all folded when it got too rich for their blood. There was $250 in the pot. She had the makings of a royal flush and told me I could see her face-down card if I doubled the pot which I did. Turns out she only had a straight which still beat what I had. She went home $500 richer that night. I was so mad."

"Yes, Jack and Lou have said many times that they regretted teaching me," chuckled Missy.

Greer handed her the cards and said, "Ok, Doc, let's see you shuffle." Missy shuffled the cards expertly. "Well, well, I do like a challenge."

"So do I," said Mac.

Missy looked at the rest of the group. "Ok, who's in?" Everyone motioned that they wanted cards except Chloe who indicated that she would watch for a round. Greer and Scott divided the chips evenly between the group while Missy passed out the cards. She said, "The game is five card stud—sevens are wild." For a few minutes, the game play was very brisk with people turning in cards and getting replacement cards. Finally, Missy said, "The opening bet is two chips." Everyone passed forward their chips.

Then Greer said, "I'll raise that five more." He put five of his chips into the pile. Immediately, Scott, Eli, and TJ folded while everyone else pushed in five chips. Melissa proceeded to give everyone left in the round another face-down card and opened the betting again. The game playing continued in this fashion until everyone had folded except for Melissa and Greer. "So, Doc, you ready to give up yet?"

Missy grinned and said, "Nope, I'll take your bet of five and raise it ten."

Chuckling, Ev said, "Sergeant, it's best to get out when she starts betting like that."

"But I've got to see those cards, Sir. I'm calling it. He laid down his cards—four jacks and a king. Starting to pull the pile of chips towards him, he said, "Come to papa."

"That's good, Sergeant, but not good enough." Missy laid down her cards. She had a royal flush, and everyone was suitably impressed. They played several more rounds which were won by Missy, Greer, Mac, and Dr. Rush. Finally, the pile of chips was split between Missy and Rush for several minutes until Missy called it and laid down her cards—four tens and a queen.

She was about to proclaim victory when Rush said, "Lass, I'm pretty sure this beats what you have." He laid down his cards—five jacks. Pulling the pile of chips toward him, he winked and said, "That was quite the challenge. I wouldn't mind doing this on a regular basis."

Greer said, "I like how you think, Rush. Let's plan on it." The rest of the group enthusiastically agreed.

"Before we break up for the night," said Chloe, "I had a question for Melissa and the Colonel."

Missy, who had snuggled back up in the crook of Ev's arm on the sofa, said, "Yes, Chloe."

"If I understand it correctly, didn't the Colonel ask you to marry him back on Icarus?"

"He did." She reached underneath her shirt and pulled out her tags which still had the sapphire ring on them. "You know, I guess I could wear this on my finger now."

"Well, I was talking with Matthew, and we were thinking that it would be really nice if the crew had something positive to plan towards. So, we wanted to ask you…"

Scott interrupted, "Chloe, you're beating around the bush. Sir, you know I was raised by a Catholic priest, and I pretty much have everything memorized. I would be very honored if you would let me preside over your wedding."

"Yep," said Mac in a teasing voice. "We gotta get 'Mom and Dad' married off before the baby's born."

Chloe continued, "Enough people have IPODS so I think music is covered."

Dr. Rush said, "Lass, I would be willing to give you away."

"And that lady I was telling you about," said TJ, "was very enthusiastic. I think a wedding dress wouldn't be a problem either. So, what do you think, Sir?"

Overwhelmed at the generosity of their friends, Ev and Missy looked at each other for a long moment. He took her hands in his and asked, "What do you think, baby?"

Giving him a gentle smile, Missy said, "Nothing would make me happier than to be married to you, Ev. That would be wonderful!"

"Fantastic!" exclaimed Chloe. "The planning starts tomorrow!" Everyone headed out telling Everett and Melissa they would see them in the morning.


End file.
